Why was last rite held in haste, says CM on Hanskhali incident

kolkata: Condemning the incident at Hanskhali in Nadia, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, on Monday, expressed her apprehension over the cause of death of the minor girl and asked why the victim's family which has attributed the reason to gang rape did not lodge a police complaint immediately after the incident occurred.

She reiterated that the accused, irrespective of any political colour, was arrested immediately after the complaint was lodged.

"What has happened is not right. I condemn it. Will you call this rape or was the girl pregnant or was it a love affair or was she ill or something else happened to her? The incident happened on April 5 but why was the police complaint made after 5 days and not lodged immediately? If there was doubt about the cause of her death then why was her last rite conducted in haste on the same day without informing anyone? How will the police get evidence for an investigation now?" questioned Banerjee.

She slammed the Opposition and a section of media for trying to give a political twist to the incident. "I have received the news that there was a love affair between the accused and the victim. So why come to a conclusion before the investigation is over," she added.

She asserted that she had heard that the victim had a love affair, and her neighbours and family knew about it.

"Now, if a boy and a girl are in a love affair, I cannot stop them. This is not Uttar Pradesh that I will lodge a drive and call it love jihad," she said.

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo further went on to lambast a section of media and opposition parties for allegedly defaming TMC for the accused person's proximity with the ruling party.

"What can be done? In Bengal, everyone is associated with TMC. The father is a TMC activist and if his son has an affair or does something wrong then how does the former's political affiliation be responsible for it? Why is the party's name being embroiled in this?" questioned Banerjee.

According to the FIR of the victim's father on Saturday, the class IX student had gone to attend the birthday party of the Trinamool Gram Panchayat member's son on April 4. She returned home in the early hours of Tuesday feeling ill. He took her to a local quack, but she died in the afternoon. The police have arrested the youth and detained two of his friends.

Continuing her tirade on the central government for deploying central probe agencies, in probing some murder cases in Bengal, Banerjee said: "How many CBI probes have been done in Delhi, UP, Rajasthan, Assam and Bihar in murder cases? How many leaders have been arrested? No matter how many conspiracies you hatch by using ED and CBI, don't think that we will bow down," Banerjee said.

Her comments came in the backdrop of the Bogtui village incident that was handed over to the CBI recently. She also condemned the Centre's "policy to isolate and disturb the industrialists.

"This is not good for the health of our economy. Fight us politically and not with agencies," she maintained.

Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Monday had sought a report on the Hanskhali incident from the Chief Secretary by April 13.

A PIL has also been filed at Calcutta High Court regarding the incident.